PepsiCo Donates to Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities

PURCHASE, N.Y. – PepsiCo, Inc., in association with its Dream Machine® Recycling Initiative, presented a $500,000 donation to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), a national non-profit organization founded at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management and operated by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, which offers career training, education and job creation for post-9/11 U.S. veterans with disabilities. The contribution – which was initially announced on Veterans Day last year and presented to the EBV during halftime of the Syracuse Men’s Basketball game last night – brings the total donation amount from PepsiCo to the EBV to $1.5 million over the past three years.

“PepsiCo is honored to provide continual support to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities through the Dream Machine Recycling Initiative and to help make public recycling a more convenient and rewarding process,” said Tim Carey , Senior Director of Sustainability at PepsiCo. “Through this program, we have seen amazing results, from the over 5,500 bins and kiosks located across the country, to the over 600 graduates of the EBV program. We look forward to helping keep our environment healthy for generations to come.”

Since 2010, the Dream Machine Recycling Initiative has partnered with EBV to support its unique resources for veterans: the more plastic bottles and aluminum cans recycled in Dream Machine kiosks and bins across the nation and via the Dream Machine Recycle Rally® program for K-12 schools, the more support PepsiCo provides to EBV.

“It is our mission at the EBV to provide free education to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities and we are proud that over the past three years we have continually been able to achieve that goal with the support of PepsiCo and the Dream Machine Recycling Initiative,” said Mike Haynie , EBV founder, IVMF Executive Director and Barnes Professor of Entrepreneurship at Syracuse University’s Whitman School. “It’s rewarding to know that we are a part of PepsiCo’s ongoing sustainability efforts and that simply by recycling through a Dream Machine, the public gets to do their part to help support these veterans with disabilities.”

The Dream Machine Recycling Initiative has diverted more than 200 million beverage containers from landfill to recycling since the program’s inception in 2010. The program has served as a catalyst for other companies to amplify their own recycling efforts and PepsiCo is proud to be a leader in the sustainability movement and a contributor to important veteran services.

The Dream Machine Recycling Initiative, introduced on Earth Day 2010, has made thousands of new recycling kiosks and bins available in popular public venues such as gas stations, stadiums, and parks with the aim to increase the U.S. beverage container recycling rate. Dream Machine kiosks are computerized receptacles that include a personal reward system that allows consumers to collect and redeem points for each bottle or can recycled.

About Dream Machine Recycle Rally

Dream Machine Recycle Rally is a nationwide school recycling program designed to raise awareness among students, grades K-12, about the importance of recycling and encourage them to make recycling part of their everyday lives. The Dream Machine Recycle Rally is part of the broader Dream Machine Recycling Initiative.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. Our main businesses – Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola – make hundreds of enjoyable foods and beverages that are loved throughout the world. PepsiCo’s people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also means a more successful future for PepsiCo. We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo’s promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages for local tastes; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment by conserving energy and water and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support and invest in the local communities where we operate.